Last month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $1.9 million False Claims Act (FCA) settlement with Stanford University over its alleged failures to report foreign support for a dozen investigators who collectively had 23 research awards from five federal agencies.[1]
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Corcoran, chief of the Civil Division for the District of Maryland who co-led the investigation for DOJ, spoke extensively to RRC about the settlement and the issues that led to it (see story, p. 1).[2]
In addition to the payment, the settlement calls for Stanford to work with the National Science Foundation (NSF) “Office of the Chief of Research Security Strategy and Policy on best practices in the area of gifts funding research projects and current and pending support disclosures to address concerns identified by the United States.”[3]